St. Johns County has consistently had the second-best unemployment rate in the state but after Hurricane Irma, the county could be moving into the top spot.
The jobless rate in St. Johns fell again in August to 3.2 percent, from 3.4 percent in July, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported Friday.
Only Monroe County, at 2.7 percent, had a lower rate.
But that may be changing. Florida’s southernmost county includes the Florida Keys, which were devastated by Irma. It will take time for many businesses in the county to resume operations, which could cause a spike in unemployment.
Before Irma, nearly every county in Florida saw unemployment drop in August, according to the Department of Economic Opportunity.
Duval County’s jobless rate fell from 4.6 percent to 4.4 percent last month.
The unemployment rate in the entire Jacksonville metropolitan area fell by 0.2 percentage points to 4.1 percent in August.
Among the other counties in the metro area, Baker fell from 4.3 percent to 3.9 percent, Clay dropped from 4.1 percent to 3.8 percent and Nassau fell from 4 percent to 3.9 percent.
Florida’s overall unemployment rate fell by 0.1 point to a seasonally adjusted 4 percent. The Jacksonville area data was not adjusted for seasonal factors.
A separate survey by the Department of Economic Opportunity showed the Jacksonville area gained 16,900 jobs from August 2016 through August 2017, a 2.5 percent job growth rate.
Nearly every major employment sector continues to add jobs. Exceptions are the leisure and hospitality sector, which declined by 900 jobs, and transportation, warehousing and utilities, which lost a net total of 100 jobs in the 12-month period.
Jacksonville-based railroad company CSX Corp. has cut 2,700 jobs this year throughout its operations in the eastern U.S., including a large number of management employees in Jacksonville.
Jacksonville’s growth rate is slightly lower than Florida’s statewide growth rate of 2.6 percent in the 12-month period.
